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on Transition Economics |
| By: | García-Herrero, Alicia (BOFIT); Santabárbara, Daniel (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | We find empirical evidence that the Chinese banking system has benefited from the entry of foreign investors through higher profitability and increased efficiency of the banking system. Foreign participation, which consists of a minority stake in a Chinese bank (in contrast to the typical pattern in emerging countries), appears to be most effective when the foreign bank acts as a strategic investor. Purely financial investors contribute little, if anything, to bank performance. |
| Keywords: | China; banking system; foreign participation |
| JEL: | G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2008–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2008_011&r=tra |
| By: | Thomas Rawski; Evelyn S. Rawski |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:357&r=tra |
| By: | Herbst, Mikolaj |
| Abstract: | Ten years after delegating the responsibility for school management and operation maintenance to local governments, the education funding system in Poland still faces open challenges of fundamental importance. Although the decentralisation of education is commonly considered a success, the particular mechanisms of funding and legal solutions are hotly debated and certainly far from perfect. The financial responsibilities of the central government and the local authorities are imprecisely defined, which provokes conflicts and tensions between the main stakeholders. Moreover, the Polish education system lacks even the basic standards describing an efficient way of service provision. The formula used to allocate the so-called education subvention to individual local governments is subject to endless political bargains and trades and hardly reflects any reasonable policy. Recently, several ideas have been raised in the public debate in Poland on how to reform the funding of education. However, it seems that these heavily ideologised projects go far beyond the necessary changes and do not take into account either the complex context of decentralised education system or the experiences of other countries. |
| Keywords: | edcation finance; decentralisation; Poland |
| JEL: | H40 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9291&r=tra |
| By: | Warwick McKibbin; Peter Wilcoxen; Wing Thye Woo |
| Abstract: | Under reasonable assumptions, China could achieve parity in living standard with Western Europe by 2100, and India by 2150. Climate change, however, may be a key obstacle preventing such a convergence. The business-as-usual (BAU) growth path of the world might increase concentration of atmospheric to unsafe levels and cause significant negative environmental feedback before China achieves parity in living standards with the OECD countries. We use a dynamic multi-country general equilibrium model (the G-Cubed Model) to project a realistic BAU trajectory of CO2 emissions, and we find it to be even above the CO2 emissions from the high-growth scenario estimated by the Energy Information Agency in 2007. This outcome is a reminder that it has been usual so far to underestimate the growth in China energy consumption. We compare the merits of the different market-based CO2 reduction mechanisms like a carbon tax, a cap-and-trade scheme, and the McKibbin-Wilcoxen Hybrid (MWH) approach. Unexpected developments cause the different CO2 reduction mechanisms to create very different costs. Both the international carbon tax and the MWH approach are more economically efficient responses to uncertainty than the cap-and-trade scheme of the Kyoto Protocol. We use the G-Cubed Model to study the economic outcomes under each CO2 reduction mechanism, and under the deployment of advanced green energy. The reduction of CO2 emissions would only delay, not stop, the increase in CO2 concentrations toward the “danger level”. As the only long-term solution is likely to be shifting to non-fossil emitting energy, it is important to combine a market-based CO2 reduction mechanism with an ambitious program to accelerate the development of green technology. Such a program would probably have a higher chance of success if some important parts of it were based on international collaboration. We conclude the paper with recommendations about the form of future international climate agreements and how China could be encouraged to participate. |
| JEL: | O11 Q43 Q48 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:acb:camaaa:2008-14&r=tra |
| By: | Nguyen, Hoang-Phuong |
| Abstract: | Like other developing countries, Vietnam has attempted to push for greater fiscal decentralization in the hope of a more efficient delivery of social services to targeted citizens. The fiscal decentralization initiative is encouraging and merits pursuit, but the present study however, shows that a misstep in the decentralization process can discriminate disproportionately against the poor. Specifically, an increase in the sub-provincial share of the total provincial expenditures is predicted to bring about an appreciable decrease in the lowest-quintile average monthly income. We suggest that the Vietnamese government require provinces to adopt pro-poor allocation norms rather than reclaiming its control over the provincial expenditure assignment. This paper’s empirical findings sound a note of considerable caution that other developing countries should exercise in their fiscal decentralization efforts to avoid creating unintended consequences for the poor. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal decentralization; Vietnam; poverty reduction |
| JEL: | H87 H83 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9344&r=tra |
| By: | Mironiuc, Marilena |
| Abstract: | During the last decade, the business community ends especially the companies that activate in the fields responsible for the degradation of the environment, are seen as subjects whose main role is to ensure sustainable development. They must face growing pressures from the stakeholders, who wish to know their position regarding sustainable development, in its three dimensions: economical development, that generates profits and jobs; social development, as a guarantee for the well-being and for the compliance to human rights; environmental development, which must ensure the preservation of natural resources and the ability of the ecosystem to absorb and tolerate pollution. A company is defined as sustainable if it is socially responsible. This paper is the result of a process of investigation, of an analysis of the present framework, and of a bibliographical synthesis in the field of social responsibility and environmental ethics. First of all, we have made a historical incursion in the problematic of social responsibility of companies, and then we have mentioned the most important challenges that justify socially responsible behavior in today’s world. In order to point out the degree of responsibility of Romanian enterprises, regarding the actions for the protection of the environment, we have drawn an empirical analysis on a representative sample of Romanian companies. |
| Keywords: | responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise; culture pro-responsabilité sociale |
| JEL: | M14 Q56 Q01 |
| Date: | 2008–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:9423&r=tra |
| By: | Nivorozhkina, Ludmilla; Nivorozhkin, Anton (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "In this paper we analyze how motherhood affects women's wages. Using a dataset from Russia we adopt a matching technique to account for possible selection effects. Our findings indicate that mothers tend to suffer a moderate wage penalty. We also confine our analysis to sector-specific effects and find that the negative effect may primarily be attributed to mothers working in the public sector. The differences across sectors may be explained by considerable job flexibility and a system of promotion based on work experience which has been adopted in the public sector." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Lohnhöhe, Lohndiskriminierung, Elternschaft, Mütter, erwerbstätige Frauen, staatlicher Sektor, Einkommenseffekte, Russland |
| JEL: | J13 J18 P35 C14 |
| Date: | 2008–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200826&r=tra |